Seeing Double
by spaceman-earthgirl
Summary: During a case, Castle and Beckett somehow travel into the future and end up meeting their future selves. How will this change their relationship once Beckett sees what her future could be like? AU. Includes season 1 and season 6 Castle and Beckett.
1. Chapter 1

This is just an idea I've had floating around in my head for a while that I thought I'd attempt writing. It's also my first attempt at a Castle fic.

(St Bart's will get written, I'm just struggling with the last chapter so I thought I'd try something different first).

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

**Edit:** I mention this in chapter four but both season 1 Castle and Beckett and season 6 Castle and Beckett are from between episodes 4 and 5 of their respective seasons.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Beckett's head was pounding as she slowly opened her eyes. It took her brain a moment to register that she was on the floor of an abandoned warehouse. They had been working a case where they'd traced their main suspect to this very warehouse. Beckett tried to recall the events that lead to her being unconscious on the floor but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't.

She raised her head and looked around, realising that the entire warehouse had been cleared. That was when she also noticed that she wasn't alone, that there was someone else fast asleep next to her. She groaned when she realised who it was. Like her day wasn't already bad enough without him being involved.

"Castle," she whispered, and when that failed to rouse him she reached over and grabbed his shoulder, shaking it until he began to stir.

"Castle," she whispered again and he opened his eyes, staring confusedly back at her.

"Beckett?" He questioned, "what happened?" he continued, sitting up and taking in his surroundings.

It didn't take him to realise exactly where he was; they'd been here earlier that day. A man, Harry Peterson, had been found dead in his apartment and his business partner was a person of interest as he was the last person to see Mr Peterson alive. The police received information that he was last seen at a warehouse but when they'd gotten there, they'd found the victim's brother outside instead. He'd told them that it was actually his brother's wife that was the murderer. He even gave them a file that apparently was full of evidence that the wife was the killer and told her current whereabouts. Of course they'd asked him where he got it from but he refused to tell them.

Castle looked around but said file was nowhere to be seen. The brother had also told them something else weird, "Congratulations on the engagement" he'd said, which made absolutely no sense since neither of them were engaged.

The brother had then taken off running into the warehouse and Castle and Beckett had followed and that was the last thing he remembered.

"Is the last thing you remember chasing after Mr Peterson into here?" Castle asked, getting to his feet then offering Beckett his hand to help her up too. She reluctantly accepted and he pulled her to her feet.

"Yeah, but how come we both blacked out? How's your head?" Beckett asked once they were both standing.

"Sore," replied Castle, rubbing his head, "but it doesn't feel like I was hit over the head. You?"

"Same. What the hell happened Castle?" she asked exasperatedly. She had no idea what had happened and she didn't like not knowing.

She checked and she still had her gun and badge with her so that was something at least.

Looking down at her watch she gasped, "It's been almost 8 hours. It must be dark out by now and the boys will be looking for us. Let's get out of here, we have to find out what's going on."

Once they were outside they discovered another problem, both their phones were missing and Beckett's car was gone.

"Your apartment is closest, come on, let's just walk," said Castle, "the fresh air might do us both some good."

XXX

When they arrived outside of Beckett's apartment she had to check she had the right street because her building looked different than when she'd left this morning. Parts were the same and it did look similar but the colours were different and parts looked newer than the rest.

They got through the front door using Beckett's keys but when she tried to open her door, which again looked different than it previously had, her keys wouldn't work. Out of frustration, she grabbed the handle, shaking it knowing full well that she was for some reason locked out and shaking the handle would do nothing. She gave a surprised yelp when the door swung open to reveal a middle aged man in her doorway.

"Can I help you?" he asked, a confused look on his face.

"I...do you live here?" she asked, taking in the man's appearance and glancing past him to see that none of the furniture in the apartment was hers.

"Yes, for the past two years. How can I help you?" He asked again, obviously confused.

"I…sorry, wrong apartment," she replied before grabbing Castle by the arm and pulling him down the hallway.

"What's going on Castle?" she asked. Things were seriously starting to get weird now.

"I have no idea. Maybe we should try the loft instead? I'm sure Alexis will be there."

XXX

Castle had stupidly left his keys on Beckett's desk earlier that morning so he was left to knock on the door once they reached his loft and hopefully someone would be home. But nothing could've prepared them for what they saw when the door swung open. Castle was what they saw when the door opened, well another version of Castle anyway. Beckett quickly glanced to her left to make sure Castle was still there and he was.

_If one Castle is bad, two is going to be unbearable_ was the first thing Beckett thought but that was the least of her worries at the moment and before she could think too much about that what she saw next had her nearly passing out for the second time that day. Someone else stepped into the doorway and Beckett froze in shock, finding herself looking at another version of herself. Except this Kate Beckett was different. This Kate Beckett had long brown hair and was wearing an oversized shirt and shorts and for the life of her, Beckett couldn't figure out what she'd be doing, let alone wearing that, in Richard Castle's loft. All four of them just stood staring at each other, utterly confused about the interesting turn of events that had just occurred.

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Thanks for reading. If you're interested in seeing more of this fic please review and let me know because I'll only continue if people actually want to read it since it's going to take a lot of effort to write.

Also, since Beckett's apartment blew up, for the purposes of this story, I said that it was rebuilt in a similar way to which it was before the explosion.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm completely overwhelmed by the response to this story, I certainly didn't expect it. Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed.

I hope you can distinguish between who's talking because it's rather difficult to write the same characters in a scene. Let me know if you get confused and I'll try write it differently in future chapters. The story is from season one Beckett and Castle's point of view so when I say "other" I'm referring to season six Castle and Beckett. Next chapter will be clearer if this one isn't.

Anyway, on with the story. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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"You have no idea what I'm thinking right now," said both Castle's at once after looking at both Beckett's which caused both Beckett's to reply with "Castle!" at the exact same.

"That was creepy," said the older Castle, and then he continued, "do you mind telling us exactly who you are and what you're doing here?" He may have dreamed about there being two Beckett's but he never thought it would actually happen.

"We could ask you the same thing," said the younger Castle, "what are you doing in my loft and how on earth did you get Beckett to dress like that?" He glanced up and down the other Beckett's body approvingly. He already knew she was beautiful but even dressed in shorts and a shirt she looked amazing.

"Hold on, we have to figure out what's going on here. How is it even possible that you two are standing there," said the other Beckett. The past Beckett had been about to say something similar which kind of freaked her out. She was having trouble processing what was currently happening. How could there be two of them?

"Do you want to hear my theory," said Castle, getting all excited all of a sudden. "Time travel".

"You took the words right out of my mouth," said the other Castle and then he continued, "what year do you think it is?"

"What do you mean what year so we think it is, it's 2009 of course," said Beckett, of course none of them had time travelled. Time travel was impossible, right? There had to be some other explanation for what was going on here.

The other Beckett and Castle exchanged shocked looks which made Beckett even more concerned.

"It's 2013. You two travelled in time." He stated, smirking at Beckett. He knew that one day one of his crazy theories would be correct. "Which means we also traveled in time. Wait, why don't we remember this happening? We'd remember visiting our future selves. What if they're from an alternate dimension, or a different time stream? They're not actually us, that's why we don't remember." Castle was getting really excited now and Beckett had to stop him before he got carried away.

"Rick, slow down," said the long haired Beckett before turning to the Castle and Beckett who were standing outside the door, "What's the last thing you remember before things got weird?"

Beckett answered this question. It was very strange to be talking to herself. It's not something she'd ever imagined doing before. "We were working a case and we ended up at a warehouse. We were talking to the victim's brother and then we chased him into the warehouse and next thing we knew we were waking up on the floor of the warehouse almost 8 hours later."

The other Beckett and Castle were staring at each other again with the same shocked faces.

"You remember that case right?" said the other Castle, directing his question at the other Beckett, "Well, that's the point actually, we don't remember that case. And now we know why. I would never have guessed that time travel was the reason though. This is so great." Castle really was loving this.

"Great for you maybe, I just want to get home, not that I believe in this whole time travel thing anyway. I'm sure this is just some elaborate prank. I bet you had something to do with this Castle," said Beckett, staring accusingly at Castle.

"I'm good Beckett but I'm not that good," replied Castle, although he looked like he was having just as much fun as the other Castle.

"Look, I don't care what happened, I just want to get home, and stop smiling like that, this is serious." Beckett's words only made Castle grin more. Annoyed Beckett was hot.

"Well, Mr Peterson must have something to do with what happened, or at least he's the best chance we have of finding out what is going on since he was the last person we saw before we blacked out," said Castle, sobering a bit after Beckett hit his arm. "If you two remembered this case, what happened?" Castle directed his question at the other Castle and Beckett. If they did remember what happened, they may find some clue to getting them back home.

"We don't know," said Beckett, glancing uneasily at Castle. This case had always bugged her since they never found out what actually happened to them, until now at least. "We chased Mr Peterson into the warehouse, and the next thing we knew we were waking up on the floor hours later. But the strange thing was, well one of the strange things, was that our watches were wrong, and we never figured out why."

"Time travel!" said the other Castle excitedly again. "We spent hours in this time before going home so our watches would be wrong. It finally all makes sense!"

"Really, Castle, all of it?" said the other Beckett, smirking at Castle, "and how exactly did we travel in time in the first place?

"Okay, so not all of it makes sense yet, but I will figure it out."

Beckett had been watching this whole exchange and while she had been listening to what they were saying, she'd also been observing them. They were obviously very close. They way they talked and acted around each other, even having a conversation like this, she could tell that their friendship was something special. Also, the fact the she felt comfortable enough the wear shorts and t-shirt around Castle said a lot as well. She glanced at the Castle beside her and couldn't figure out how they'd gone from what they have now to what apparently they'd have in the future. Beckett still didn't believe that they'd actually travelled in time but it was looking more and more likely that that was the case. She was half convinced that this was all a bad dream though and she'd wake up any minute.

"What were you doing here in the first place?" Beckett asked, surprising everyone since it had nothing to do with their current conversation. Her question was directed at the other Beckett.

The other Beckett made a snap decision. She remembered how she was feeling about Castle around the time that this case occurred. She'd wanted to get rid of Castle and was close to begging the Captain, or even the Mayor, to get Castle transferred to shadowing another detective. So Beckett decided that she wouldn't tell her young self about her engagement to Castle; she didn't want to freak her out any more than she knew she already was about the whole situation.

"Movie night," replied the other Beckett, "We'd had a long day and we just wanted to relax." So that was mostly true, she just left out that part that she wanted to cuddle up to Castle and fall asleep in his arms.

"Okay, it's getting late," continued Beckett, "I say we all get some sleep and then we can get an early start on finding Mr Peterson in the morning."

"No offence but I really just want to go home," replied Beckett, "We should start looking for him now."

"Beckett is right," said the other Castle, referring to his Beckett, "we'll all think much better once we've had some sleep and I'm exhausted as I'm sure you all are too."

"Okay fine," Beckett relented, "we should go back to your place and leave the Castle's here." It was said as a statement but came out more as a question.

The other Beckett and Castle exchanged looks which Beckett didn't understand but Castle seemed to because he answered. "Why don't we all just stay here. Castle, you can have the guest room and Beckett, you can take Alexis's room since she's away at college."

"Alexis is at college!" exclaimed Castle, she was still his little girl back in his time. He didn't even want to think about her leaving home.

"Don't worry, she visits often," reassured Castle, knowing how he must be feeling about that piece of information.

Beckett thought about Castle's suggestions for sleeping arrangements and realised one problem, where was her future self going to sleep? "What about you?"

"I..ahh.." Beckett didn't know how to say that she'd be sharing a bed with Castle.

"She can share with me, it's not like we haven't shared a bed before," he said, smirking at the look on the younger Beckett's face. The other Beckett hit Castle when she realised he was teasing the younger version of herself.

"Oh really?" asked the young Castle, he wanted stories and now.

"You've got a lot to look forward to, my friend," and now both Beckett's were thinking about how bad having two Castle's around could be.

"Okay, bed time. I'll get the other me something to sleep in and you get yours something to wear too." She could tell the young Beckett was close to panicking and knew she'd need some time alone to think.

XXX

Half an hour later and they were all in their beds but none of them were sleeping. Both Castle's were too excited to sleep, the younger Castle thinking about how lucky his future self was getting to share a bed with Beckett. He couldn't wait until that was him. The older Beckett was cuddled up next to Castle, worried about her younger self because she knew what she was going through at that stage in her life. The younger Beckett was trying to process the events of the day. It wasn't just the apparent time travel either, it was the fact that she was still with Castle and seemed happy with him. She had no idea how that could've happened though and she wouldn't find out unless they found a way to get back home.

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Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and let me know what you thought.

If there are any scenes you want to see happen or any suggestions for future chapters review and let me know too :)

My tumblr url is spaceman-earthgirl and I'll be posting updates under the tag seeing double if anyone is interested.


	3. Chapter 3

Again, thank you to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed and to those who gave suggestions for this fic.

I hope this chapter is clearer and easier to distinguish between the two.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

**Edit:** The Mr Peterson in this fic is in no way related to the Peterson's in season one episode two, Nanny McDead. It's just a coincidence.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Beckett woke up to the smell of coffee and breakfast cooking. She kept her eyes closed for as long as possible hoping that yesterday was just one big, very bad dream. But she knew it wasn't. She could already tell the bed she was in wasn't her own. And someone had made coffee and breakfast meaning she wasn't home alone like she usually was when she woke up.

She made her way downstairs to find Castle making coffee. She found herself glad that it was her Castle and not the other one.

"Morning," he said, as she sat down, both smiling as she accepted the cup of coffee and plate of food he offered her.

She looked behind her as she heard movement and the other Castle and Beckett stumbled out of Castle's room, obviously having smelt the coffee.

"Morning all" said the other Castle brightly, as he and the other Beckett entered the kitchen and accepted a cup of coffee and food as well.

"Coffee first, then me and Castle will head to the precinct to find out what we can about Mr Peterson," said the other Beckett, after she'd had a sip of coffee.

"I'm assuming you mean your Castle and not mine," said the past Beckett. When the future Beckett nodded, she continued, "we should have different names to avoid any confusion because this could get confusing very quickly."

Before either Castle could interject with crazy name suggestions the future Beckett replied with, "good idea," then she paused, trying to think of appropriate names for all of them. "Okay, how about we call you two Beckett and Castle, and we'll be Kate and Rick. How does that sound?"

Everyone agreed with the other Beckett, well now Kate.

They'd all just finished their coffee and breakfast when Kate's phone rang.

"Beckett," she answered, and then was quiet while she listened to whatever the person on the other end of the line was saying. "Ok, thanks Espo, we'll be there soon."

She hung up the phone and then addressed everyone in the kitchen, "Sorry, looks like we're going to have to put our plans of finding Mr Peterson on hold," and then she continued just addressing Rick, "we've got a body. We're going to meet the boys there."

"Castle and I can head to the precinct instead then, while you two are at the crime scene," said Beckett.

"Is that really such a good idea?" asked Kate, "what if someone sees you?"

"We're you guys, remember? And I'll wear a hat. We'll be in and out quickly, no one will know the difference," answered Beckett.

When Kate looked unsure, Beckett continued, "look, I know you're hesitant but we just really want to get home and the quickest way to do that is if we go to the precinct while you two are at the crime scene."

"Kate, we should let them go, they are us. As long as they don't talk to anyone everything should be fine. And not that I don't find your short hair sexy but you will need to wear a hat." said Rick, admiring the hair he remembered from when he first met Kate.

His comment earned him a hit on the arm and a "Castle!" from Kate.

"What? You don't like me hitting on your younger self?" Rick asked, a smile on his face. Kate could tell he was trying not to laugh.

Kate glared at him but she couldn't stop the small smile that broke across her face as her gaze softened. "Come on, we need to go, they'll be waiting for us," she said. She was about to go get dressed for work when she realised that Castle and Beckett would have no clothes to wear today. Instead of trying to explain to her younger self why she had a lot of clothes in Castle's room, she said she had some spare clothes that she could lend to Beckett. Rick said he could lend some to Castle too.

They both returned a few minutes later with a change of clothes for Castle and Beckett and Kate had found a hat that Beckett could wear to the precinct to cover her hair.

Not long later, everyone was dressed and ready to leave with Kate and Rick ready to go to the crime scene and Beckett and Castle ready to go to the precinct.

"Remember, don't talk to anyone while you're there," said Rick, as they left the loft. Beckett and Castle were going to wait 5 minutes to leave themselves as it would be a bit hard to explain why they suddenly both had twins if anyone saw them. They just hoped no one would notice two sets of them leaving the building.

As the boys and Lanie would be at the crime scene, the only person Kate and Rick had to worry about Beckett and Castle running into was Gates, she just hoped that that wouldn't happen.

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Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and let me know what you thought.

If there are any scenes you want to see happen or any suggestions for future chapters review and let me know too :)

Updates won't always be this frequent just fyi but I will do my best and I'll continue writing as long as there are people that want to read it.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed.

Just to clarify because I haven't mentioned it yet, both season 1 Castle and Beckett and season 6 Castle and Beckett are from between episodes 4 and 5 of their respective seasons. Also, Alexis isn't living at home and Pi either doesn't exist/if he does, I'm not going to mention him.

I also posted another Caskett fic yesterday called Married Life if anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Beckett and Castle turned up at the precinct, hat firmly on Beckett's head to hide her hair. When they stepped off the elevator they were both relieved to see the bullpen mostly empty or people busy working so they wouldn't be disturbed. Beckett sat down at her desk and quickly logged onto the computer, wanting to work as fast as possible to avoid any interaction with anyone if that was possible. She'd just started a search for Mr Peterson when they heard the voice of a lady calling to them.

"Beckett, Castle, my office, now," the voice said.

They both stood up, giving each other confused looks as Beckett whispered, "Where's Captain Montgomery?" to which Castle just shrugged.

"Why aren't you two at the crime scene?" the lady asked, obviously their new Captain. Beckett couldn't help but wonder why Captain Montgomery had left.

"We were just about to leave Ma'am, I just needed to grab something from my desk first," answered Beckett, rather intimidated by this woman.

"Excuse me?" replied the woman. _Captain Gates_, the plaque on her desk said.

"I..umm.." Beckett didn't know what to say or what she'd said wrong.

"You're to call me Sir or Captain, you know that Detective," said the Captain, looking slightly confused, Beckett never called her Ma'am.

"Right, of course, sorry Sir." This lady, their captain, was turning out to be rather interesting but Beckett didn't know whether she liked her or not. She was also trying to think of a way to get out of there as quickly as possible in case the Captain noticed something was different about her. She'd already seen the Captain eyeing her hat with confusion.

"Anyway, I called you both in here to ask you a question. Do you know how to conduct yourselves in a professional manner while in the walls of my precinct?" asked the Captain. Well that certainly wasn't what either Castle or Beckett were expecting.

"Yes," answered Beckett, but it came out sounding more like a question than a statement.

"And you, Mr Castle?" Captain Gates asked.

"Yes sir," replied Castle, standing up a bit straighter. He was definitely intimated by this woman and he could tell Beckett was too.

"That's good to hear so I expect you to act more professionally while you're at work," said Captain Gates. She had seen them making out last week in one of the back corridors. There were times in the bullpen she had seen them kiss but she'd let those other times slide since it was usually a special occasion like Beckett getting her job back. But seeing the two of them kissing like that at her precinct, she had to draw the line somewhere.

"Okay, you both better head to the crime scene, but remember, no more funny business in my precinct," said the Captain, pointing between them both, so Beckett and Castle left quickly before she could tell them off again for something else they had yet to do.

They couldn't hang around the precinct now since the Captain expected them to go to the crime scene so they had to leave. For lack of a better option, they decided to go back to Castle's loft since Kate hadn't told them her address so they couldn't go there. They'd stopped and bought a prepaid phone on their way to the precinct so they could keep in contact with their other selves. Beckett called Kate in order to inform her of their run in with Captain Gates in case the Captain brought it up later.

"The Captain saw us so we had to leave the precinct but I've started a search for Mr Peterson so hopefully you'll have some results by the time you return from the crime scene. Also, where's Montgomery?" asked Beckett once Kate had answered her phone. Kate and Rick were already at the crime scene so Kate had to excuse herself to talk in private so no one would hear her conversation with herself.

"The Captain saw you?" Kate asked in a worried tone, ignoring the part about Montgomery. Hopefully Beckett wouldn't ask too many questions about him.

"Yeah but it's fine, she thought we were you," answered Beckett and she thought about not mentioning what the Captain had told them but she couldn't risk it if the Captain brought it up again later and Kate and Rick would have no idea what she was talking about. That would look suspicious although no one would ever guess that time travel and the fact that there was two of them was the reason they couldn't remember the talk. "She said something about behaving appropriately at work and acting professionally while in the walls of her precinct."

"I…okay..thanks. I got to go but we'll be in touch soon." Kate didn't know how to respond to that, her younger self must have some suspicions now about her and Rick by now but she hadn't freaked out about it yet so that was a good sign.

"Talk to you later, we'll be at Castle's loft if you need us," was Beckett's way of saying good bye. Just after she'd hung up she received a text saying **Watch out for my mother** from Rick. That would be interesting if they ran into her and Beckett almost hoped they did because then maybe she'd get some answers about what was going on between her and Castle.

They were in a cab on the way to Castle's loft by the time she'd ended the call with Kate. Beckett had a fair idea of what Kate and Rick may have been up to that warranted a telling off like that from their Captain. She wasn't blind and she certainly wasn't dumb. Just the looks that Kate and Rick shared were enough to tell her something was going on between them. Coupled with the fact that Kate looked like she was practically living with Castle and what she guessed the Captain was alluding to at the precinct, she knew something was up.

She decided not to freak out just yet, she trusted herself enough to know that she wouldn't start any sort of romantic relationship with Castle if she didn't trust him completely. What she did wonder though, was how her and Castle could go from what they have now to what they seem to have in the future. It certainly did look serious between the two of them so something must've happened to change her opinion of him. Sure, she couldn't deny that Castle was hot, but for Kate, her future self, to be looking at Castle with such love and trust in her eyes meant there was definitely something special between them. Beckett knew she would panic about this later, she was still trying to get over the fact that they had travelled in time. She'd speak to Kate about this first though, maybe Kate could help her see what she saw in Castle.

* * *

I'm going to try update this at least once a week but it could be more frequent than that if I get chapters written faster.

If you liked it/or if you didn't, don't forget to review to let me know and thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

It's been a week so here's another chapter. And I still can't believe the response this fic has gotten so thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

* * *

Kate and Rick had been at the crime scene and were now on their way to the precinct. Kate was worried about Beckett. She knew she was in a bad place during that time in her life. She acted like nothing bothered her but the truth was, she was still so consumed by her mother's murder at that point, desperate to know what had happened. Castle entering her life had annoyed her to no end but he had distracted her for a while, which she will always be thankful for.

Kate made a plan to talk to Beckett next time she saw her. She knew she'd currently be trying to process the overload of information she'd received over the last day. And if time travel wasn't enough for her to handle already, throw in a future relationship with Castle and Beckett's head must be spinning. Especially since she wasn't overly fond of Castle at that point.

Of course Kate would know how Beckett would be feeling since it was her after all. She had changed a lot in the past few years, especially since Rick entered the picture, but she still knew what her younger self had been going though. She really needed to sit down and talk to her past self before she went into full on panic mode.

XXX

It hadn't taken long for Castle to get restless once they got back to the loft and he figured that since it was technically his home too, there was nothing wrong with taking a look around. Beckett had tried to stop him but she admittedly hadn't tried very hard since she had been rather curious herself. She hoped that some things would become clearer if they took a look around.

Now that Beckett was actually looking around the loft, instead of being distracted by the fact that there was an older version of herself standing next to her, she was noticing a few things. Just small things at first, a woman's jacket lying on the couch, some cushions that she recognized from her place as well as a painting on the wall. The woman's jacket could have been Martha's but it looked more her style than Castle's mother. The other things could've been Castle just being creepy and buying items that she also owned or Kate had given them to him for some reason. Both those of course were extremely unlikely but Beckett was looking for any other reason that her stuff could be at Castle's.

She kept looking, hoping to find some evidence that would prove her suspicions wrong. She could not be dating Castle. That is one thing that couldn't be possible, there is no way she'd willing go out with him, even if he was extremely attractive. But the more she looked around and the more she compared it to the rest of the evidence she'd complied over the last day, she knew she was right, her future self was dating Castle. Finding a picture of them smiling, with their arms wrapped around each other confirmed her theory. There was no way that the two people in the picture weren't romantically involved.

"Beckett, look at my awesome DVD collection," Castle said proudly from the other side of the room, admiring the rather large stack of DVD's the future Castle had.

Beckett quickly picked up the picture, putting it face down on the table, not wanting Castle to see it. She decided not to share this new piece of information about their future relationship with Castle. He'd probably figure it out eventually but the longer it took him to, the better.

After Beckett had walked over to look at Castle's impressive DVD collection, he wanted to have a look around his future office. Beckett didn't want that to happen as there'd probably be some piece of evidence that would tell him they were dating which she didn't want Castle to see.

They were about to enter his office but they were saved, sort of. The problem now was that while they were saved from having to venture into his office just yet, the reason they had been stopped was that Martha Rodger's had just walked through the door. And Beckett really hoped that she didn't say anything to give away the fact that in the future, they'd be dating.

"Darling, what are you two doing home, shouldn't you both be at work?" Martha said, noticing the two of them standing by Castle's TV.

Just then Beckett's phone rang and she excused herself to answer it.

"Beckett," she said, after seeing it was Kate calling. She'd gone to the other side of the room so she wouldn't be overheard.

"We need to talk," replied Kate, getting straight to the point.

"I was thinking the same thing," answered Beckett laughing, they were the same person, of course they were thinking the same thing.

"So you know then?" Kate asked, which sobered Beckett pretty quickly, knowing exactly what Kate was talking about.

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard to figure out," said Beckett. There was no point in denying that she knew, especially if she wanted the full story.

"Good, I was almost worried that you hadn't figured it out yet, I thought maybe I'd lost my touch," replied Kate laughing and then she continued, "does castle know?"

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way," answered Beckett. She wanted to come to terms with her future first before Castle found out. The older Castle, Rick, seemed to have changed and maybe he was different and that's the person Kate fell in love with, and they were obviously in love. Why she loved him was one of the many things she wanted to talk to Kate about.

"Meet me for lunch in half an hour?" asked Kate, the sooner this conversation occurred, the better.

"The café by the precinct? I'll bring Castle. I don't trust him enough to leave him home alone, even in his own home. The Castle's can entertain each other while we're talking," Beckett replied.

"See you there," Kate answered and then hung up the phone. She was nervous about the talk they were about to have. She was going to have to explain her relationship with Rick to a version of herself who was in no way ready for a long term, committed relationship. It didn't sound like Beckett knew they were engaged and Katie didn't think she'd tell her unless she had to.

Beckett walked back over to where Castle and Martha were talking. Martha was telling Castle about her shopping adventure from the previous day so it didn't sound like she'd revealed anything specific about their relationship.

"Don't forget we have dinner with Kate's father tonight," Martha said to Castle after Beckett said they had to go.

Castle noticed the casual use of Beckett's first name and wondered exactly how close his mother and Beckett were. But before he could ask that or why they were having dinner with her father, Beckett basically pushed him out the door.

"We'll talk later, Mother," Castle called behind him as Beckett pulled the door shut.

While she was interested in how her dad was doing, she didn't want Castle asking questions about what the dinner could be about. She made a mental note to firstly ask Kate how their father was doing and secondly, what exactly were they doing all having dinner together? She was freaking out! Things must be serious between them if they were at the 'family dinner' stage in their relationship. And that thought made Beckett terrified as she looked at the man-child beside her, not knowing how they could go from the relationship they have now to the apparent relationship they have in the future.

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The items in Castle's loft I made up for the story, just fyi.

If you liked it/or if you didn't, don't forget to review to let me know and thanks for reading.

Also if you're interested, I've written a couple other Caskett fics so feel free to check them out :)


	6. Chapter 6

Because you guys are awesome and this story has over 100 reviews, here's another chapter. Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you thought :)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

* * *

As soon as Beckett had left to talk to Kate, Castle turned to Rick, "So, be straight with me, you're sleeping with Beckett right?"

The first clue that gave Castle the idea that he and Beckett were together was the fact that she'd been at his place for a movie night. It could've been something they did just as friends but for Beckett to be comfortable enough to wear so little clothes around Rick and the fact that there had only been one blanket on the couch it looked like they were sharing, Castle knew something was up.

Then there were other things like the fact that they were going to share a bed. Okay, so that could be a completely platonic thing but the Beckett he knew would never share a bed with him if there was another option. Of course she wasn't the Beckett he knew. They'd had years to build a friendship and them still being friends after this long says that Kate at least likes him as a friend.

And then of course there'd been the stuff with Gates. Castle knew exactly what had been going on in the precinct. He wasn't blind, he could tell there was something going on between Kate and Rick, he just hadn't brought it up with Beckett yet. He would bring it up later but he could tell she was struggling to come to terms with everything that was happening at the moment and didn't want to add to the stress. There'd be teasing later, I mean she agrees to sleep with him at some point in the future so he must've done something right and she obviously thought he was sexy, he certainly thought she was.

And then there was when they went back to his loft. He noticed little things that said that he didn't live alone (not counting his mother). There was also the picture of them together that he had seen before Beckett had turned it face down. He'd caught her staring at it so he knew that she knew about their future together too. He'd seen another photo of them as well, one that Beckett hadn't seen. It was of the group from the precinct but he saw that Kate and him were holding hands and Rick was looking down at Beckett with so much love in his eyes, he knew she meant something special to him.

Castle was glad that one day he wouldn't have to hide how he felt about her. Okay, so right now, he obviously didn't feel that strongly for her but he hadn't known her very long yet. He was glad that he'd get the opportunity to be with her and show her the love she deserves.

Rick talking brought Castle back to the present. Rick was pretty glad he didn't have to hide his relationship from himself and was relieved that he had discovered the truth, "I wondered why you hadn't figured it out yet. I didn't think I was that slow back then," Rick answered.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Castle smiled smugly, knowing that one day he'd get the gorgeous detective in bed with him. "Any good?" he asked.

"So good, so very good," Rick answered, mind thinking back to various times they'd slept together. He also couldn't help but think how weird this was, talking about this kind of thing with himself.

"And it's obviously serious?" Castle asked, he already knew it was pretty serious but he wasn't expecting the answer he got.

"Very, we're getting married," said Rick, and Castle couldn't hide the shock on his face at hearing that he was, yet again, getting married.

"Again? I thought we were over that," answered Castle, if he was even considering getting married again, this girl must be pretty special, but he kind of knew that already.

"Trust me, I know you like her now I mean she's hot and so bad ass but the Beckett underneath that is so, so amazing. I've never met anyone quite like her, she's extraordinary," said Rick and Castle noticed the faraway look in his eyes as he talked about Beckett, well Kate. But anyway, he could tell his future self was completely in love.

"I didn't think it was possible, I thought maybe one day I'd maybe convince her to sleep with me but that'd be it, but to have an actual relationship with her. And to be even considering marriage it must be serious," continued Castle, still trying to wrap his head around the idea that he was getting married again, and the person he was marrying was Beckett.

"We're her "one and done" and she's our "third time's a charm"," Rick said. Castle recognized the "one and done" part from the park during the nanny case, which funnily enough also featured a Mr Peterson but had no relation to their current case, and he assumed the other part was because he'd already been married twice.

"How did we go from her hating me, well us, to getting married?" Castle asked, wondering how that was even possible. Beckett seemed to really not like him at the moment and it looked like she was about ready to kick him out of the precinct. Of course Castle didn't want that and it seemed that something had changed her mind since he was still working with her.

"A lot of hard work but it's all worth it," answered Rick, breaking Castle from his thoughts, "There's a lot of heart break and pain and you almost lose her, but there's a lot of happiness too. And trust me, you've never been more in love than you are now" said Rick, smiling as he thought of Kate again.

Castle sat there thinking about all Rick had just said. Of course he wondered about the bad stuff Rick was referring to but he also wondered about the happy times too. And they did look happy now, both of them, and he couldn't wait for Beckett and him to have that too.

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Beckett's talk with Kate is going to be the next chapter and for those of you who were worried, Martha will return!

Also, there is an actual plot for the story with the time travel and Mr Peterson etc so don't worry about that either.

If you liked it/or if you didn't, don't forget to review to let me know and thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Three chapters in three days, I think that must be a record for me. Here's the Beckett/Kate chapter you guys wanted. Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you thought :)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters. **

* * *

While Rick and Castle had taken off walking down the street, Castle wearing a hat in case someone noticed there was two of them, Kate and Beckett were sitting at a table in the café. Beckett was wearing a hat as well for the same reason Castle was. Kate and Beckett both ordered a coffee and a sandwich each before they began talking.

"Where do you want to begin?" asked Kate, letting Beckett lead the conversation since she already knew the truth about her and Rick.

"Our father, how is he?" Beckett asked, her first priority was to find out how he was doing.

"Good," Kate answered, smiling at the thought of her father and glad that even under these circumstances, her father was her first thought, "We're having dinner with him tonight actually."

"Can I see him?" Beckett questioned, desperate for some normalcy at a time like this.

"I think he'll notice that you're different," Kate replied, unsure whether it was a good idea or not to have them meet.

"I could wear the hat again?" Beckett suggested, and maybe that would work but Kate still wasn't sure about it.

"Maybe, we'll talk to the Castle's to see what they think. I'm not making promises that you'll be able to see him but I'll try, I know what it would mean to you to see him, especially at a time like this," answered Kate. Her younger self was having a tough time dealing with everything, she could tell, and seeing her father would at least give her some comfort right now.

"Okay thanks. My next question is how on earth did you fall for Castle?" and the way Beckett asked the question had Kate laughing in response.

"He's hot?" she said but it sounded more like a question but she knew Beckett wanted real answers. Before she could continue though, Beckett interrupted.

"Katherine Beckett, don't give me that. I know he's hot but I know there's much more to the story than that, so spill," said Beckett. It was weird calling someone else her name like that but she really wanted answers.

"Even though you're probably not going to remember this once we get you and Castle back to your own time, I'm not going to tell you everything," and before Beckett could interrupt again with any objections to that statement, Kate continued, "I know how you're feeling at this time, with everything you've been through with our mother and now Castle barging his way into our life but you don't need to hear everything that happens, because you don't have the Rick I have to help you get through some of those things yet."

Beckett was worried now about what things Kate was talking about that she couldn't handle on her own but she acquiesced, still wanting to find out some things about her and Castle's life in the future.

"So, first of all, I know you're thinking about talking to the captain or the mayor to get Castle removed from the precinct because I almost did. I said that after this case I would all those years ago," said Kate, remembering how she had felt about Rick at that time in her life.

"But you didn't? Why? I thought you didn't remember anything about this case?" asked Beckett, curious to know what changed her mind.

"I didn't remember, and I still don't, but what changed my mind was this," and then Kate pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. The paper was all creased from the amount of times she'd folded and unfolded it.

"A piece of paper?" asked Beckett, so Kate handed the piece of paper to Beckett so she could unfold it and read the words that were written on it herself.

**Don't let Castle go. You need him. **The words were written in Beckett's own writing.

"I don't understand," said Beckett, after reading the words.

"Neither did I, until now anyway. One of us, I'm not sure which one though, wrote those words on that piece of paper. I found it in my pocket when I woke up in that warehouse in your time. I always wondered how it got there but I never knew. That note is what made me wait and see if Castle got any better, and he did. That note is the reason we're still together today," answered Kate.

"So this whole time travel thing is real then? One of us writes that note so we stay with Castle because we know that we don't want a life without him?" asked Beckett, trying to figure out exactly what had happened. One of them had written a note to themselves and put it in their pocket so when Beckett woke back up in her time with no memory, she'd know not to kick Castle out of the precinct?

"That's what I'm assuming happened. We thought we'd been lying on that warehouse floor for days, which of course doesn't make sense but that was how long we'd been missing for. If time travel is really what happened, we could've possibly only been lying on that floor for minutes instead of hours. They'd searched the warehouse where we'd supposedly been but hadn't found us. Maybe that's the reason why? But I don't know if we'll ever know because whatever happened seemed to have affected our memory and that's why we need to find Mr Peterson. Maybe he can shed some light on what actually happened," answered Kate, thinking back to when she must have been in Beckett's position, talking to an older version of herself.

"Okay, we have the search for him running so hopefully we'll have some results soon. Anyway, tell me more about Castle, well your Castle anyway," said Beckett, she was curious as to what Kate had to say about him.

"At the beginning, as you know, I obviously didn't like him very much. But the longer we worked together, the more I found out about him and the more he found out about me, the closer we became. He's saved my life countless times, he even stopped a bomb from destroying New York, which don't tell him but I'm still so impressed that he did that," began Kate.

"He stopped a bomb! How?" Beckett interrupted, she couldn't believe her Castle could do something like that.

"There was seconds to go and we were standing there, helpless and he just grabs a handful of the wires and yanks them out. Thank god it worked because otherwise I definitely wouldn't be standing here today. He saved a lot of lives that day," answered Kate, still so proud that Castle had stopped that bomb that day.

"You said he saved your life more than once, what about the other times?" Beckett asked, fascinated by this Castle that Kate was talking about.

"He once shot a suspect who was standing behind me. At the time I didn't know that there was someone behind me and thought he was going to shot me, that was an interesting day," said Kate and then she continued, "And he's smart. He's helped in countless cases including our mothers,"

Beckett hadn't expected that piece of information, wondering how that had happened, "But I'm not going to go into that, you'll have to live through that one I'm sorry." Kate said before Beckett could say anything. She chose not to mention her shooting either, not wanting to scare her younger self any more than she already was.

"And he makes life more fun and he's a great father. He's also incredible in bed," Kate continued, laughing at Beckett's shocked expression, "But there'll also be fights, some so bad that you think you'll never be the same again but we always made it through. And now I couldn't be happier than I am when I'm with him. He accepted me into his family before we were even together, he loved me before we were together too. He accepted me, flaws and all and I couldn't love him more than I do."

"When did you get together exactly?" Beckett asked, curious how long it took for them to take the next step in their relationship.

"You've got a while left to wait yet but that's a good thing. If we'd jumped into a relationship too early with him, it would never have worked," Kate answered smiling, thinking about when they'd finally made that transition in their relationship.

"Who made the first move?" Beckett asked, assuming it had been Castle.

"He kissed me first but that technically didn't count since we were undercover and I was already in a relationship at that time. Officially though, I made the first move. I sort of turned up at his apartment one night and kissed him. Well, there was a bit more than kissing, that was the first time we slept together," Kate replied, still smiling fondly at the memory.

"You threw yourself at him?" Beckett asked, she couldn't believe she'd done something like that and wondered what circumstances lead to that happening.

"Yes," said Kate, laughing at Beckett's expression, "But trust me, he didn't mind." She stopped laughing as she continued though, "It was what we both needed at that point in time, each other."

"You really do love him, don't you?" Beckett asked but she already knew the answer to that. The way she looked at him and even the look she got in her eyes while talking about him told her all she needed to know.

"Yes, I really do, and one day you will too," replied Kate, smiling again at the thought of Castle.

Beckett just couldn't imagine her Castle being like Kate was describing but she had to trust Kate, after all, they were the same person. Beckett found herself looking forward to seeing these new sides of Castle. While she knew that right now she wasn't ready for the type of relationship that Kate was describing but she liked the idea that one day she would be, even if it terrified her. Of course she was still freaking out about everything that had happened in the past day but for some reason, the thought that she was in this situation with Castle was oddly comforting. It looked like she'd found her "one and done".

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The note obviously isn't canon but I liked the idea so I wrote it in anyway. The next chapter won't be quite as fast as these last few but it will be posted sometime in the next week.

If you liked it/or if you didn't, don't forget to review to let me know and thanks for reading.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry this chapter is a bit short but it's been a week and I wanted to give you guys something. Next chapter will be posted when I find time to finish it.

Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed! Sorry I haven't replied individually to every review but it would take way too long and I'm sure you'd rather I spent the time writing instead.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you thought :)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

* * *

There was no more work that could be done that day as they were waiting on results from the lab and for Lanie to complete her autopsy on the victim. They were also still waiting on results in their search for My Peterson. They'd found him in the database but he had no known address so they were now looking for people who may know his whereabouts, hopefully they'd have more information in the morning.

Castle and Beckett had headed back to the loft after both pairs had had their talks together. Rick had called the loft and when his mother didn't answer, they deemed it safe to return. Kate and Rick had headed back to the precinct to work on their case but with dead ends so far, they'd have to wait until the morning for more information. Now they were all at the loft, preparing for Kate and Rick's dinner with his mother and her father. Beckett and Castle had cooked dinner together before the other two had gotten back to the loft, Beckett was surprised by how much fun she'd had.

Beckett had managed to convince Kate and the Castles to left her see her father. Kate had known how much it would mean to her, especially at a time like this so they'd eventually all agreed. Beckett was allowed 5 minutes to speak with her father, to see how he was, before she'd have to retreat to the bedroom and switch places with Kate. Since Beckett and Castle now knew about Rick and Kate's relationship, there was no need to hide the fact that they spent most nights together, either at her place or his.

They had a plan for the evening so hopefully everything would run smoothly. Both Castle and Rick were dressed similarly, in case Martha or Jim happened to see both of them, not at the same time of course, but that shouldn't happen anyway since Castle was to stay in Rick's room all evening. However, it was a bit more difficult for Kate and Beckett since they'd both be seen that evening.

The plan was for Beckett to see her father as soon as he arrived then she'd go into Castle's room and switch places with Kate. Kate would then spend the rest of the evening with Martha and Jim while Castle and Beckett stayed in the room. Kate and Beckett would switch clothes so no one would be suspicious but their different hair styles would be a problem. They wouldn't get away with using hats again so Castle came up with the idea that Beckett would wear a towel on her head, acting as if she was running late, but had wanted to say a quick hello to her father. She'd then retreat to the bedroom where she'd switch clothes with Kate and then Kate would exit the room, wet hair now done up nicely and hopefully no one would be the wiser.

XXX

The door bell rang just after 7 signally the arrival of Jim Beckett and meaning it was also show time for Beckett. She was incredibly excited about seeing her father, hoping for a little bit of normalcy at a time like this. Martha and Jim could be heard talking in the other room and Beckett was dressed and ready for action, complete with a towel covering her hair. Rick was going to be out there with her since Castle had no reason to be out there himself.

Beckett left the bedroom, Rick close behind her, watching her carefully. He was worried about how she was dealing with everything that had happened. He knew she was tough but this all must be hard on her and he was glad she got the chance to see her father, that should help.

As soon as Beckett saw her father, a wide grin broke out across her face.

"Dad," was all she said as she rushed over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. She didn't care if she seemed too excited to see her father, she was incredibly glad to see him.

"Hey Kate," Jim replied, laughing into his daughter's hug. It hadn't been that long since they'd last seen each other but he didn't mind her enthusiasm one bit.

When she finally let go, Jim looked at his daughter, wondering what was different about her. There was something but he couldn't quite figure out what.

"Are you okay?" he asked when she just kept looking at him, her hands now resting on the sides of his arms

"I'm fine," said Beckett, clearing her throat, she was not going to cry, especially not in front of Rick and his mother.

"Are you sure?" Jim asked again, not quite believing her. When she replied again that she was fine, he let the question drop, he'd ask Rick about her later.

"Why is there a towel on your head?" Jim asked laughing again, changing the subject since he could tell his daughter didn't want to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her.

"Sorry, I was running late," she answered, doing her best to look sheepish and relieved at the lighter tone of the conversation, "I'll finish getting ready soon, I just wanted to say hi first."

Beckett was so glad she got to see her father, she was feeling better already.

"Where's your ring?" Jim asked after noticing that both her ring finger and her necklace were missing her engagement ring. He wondered if something had happened between her and Rick and that was what was bothering her.

"Where's my ring? It's right here," said Beckett, touching the ring on her necklace.

"No, not your mother's ring, your engagement one," Jim replied, looking at her with confusion.

Castle had heard the conversation that was occurring but it was too late to stop it, Jim had already spilled the news about their engagement. Rick cursed under his breath, annoyed at himself for not thinking about Kate's ring.

Her engagement ring? Why would she have an….Beckett's eyes widen in shock and she gasped, eyes flashing over to where Castle was standing with a panicked look on his face and then back to her father. She didn't know what to do. Of all the events and the surprises of the last day, this piece of information was one thing too many. How on earth could she be engaged to Castle? Dating was one thing but they were going to get married! She remembered what Kate had said about him earlier "I couldn't love him more than I do", but now, seeing how true those words must be, she was well on her way to having a full on panic attack.

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Thanks for all the feedback I've gotten so far, I really appreciate it. And more fic is coming soon!


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you thought :)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

* * *

She stood there frozen, this could not be happening. Her and Castle...getting married. Just no, none of this was real, this had to be a bad dream, but she knew it wasn't. Was her future self really so in love that she was getting married? Beckett couldn't even imagine the kind of love they must share to be getting married. She'd heard about how her older self felt about Castle earlier this afternoon, but she was only just realising how much she was in love with him now. Was she really willing to spend the rest of her life with this man?

XXX

Rick was panicking. Beckett wasn't meant to find out how serious their relationship was, at least not like this. Rick knew Beckett, how she was all those years ago and knew she'd panic and want to run.

He had to diffuse the situation somehow, at least get Beckett out of here so she didn't have a panic attack in front of his mother and her father. They wouldn't be able to explain why his Kate was panicking and they didn't want their parents finding out about their past selves.

"Kate, are you okay?" asked Jim, concern in his voice.

"I...ahhh..." Beckett stuttered, not being able to form proper sentences.

Shit, Rick thought, he had to step in. But before he could, Martha was intercepting, "Katherine dear, can I talk to you for a minute?" and before Rick could stop her, Martha had taken Kate by the arm and basically dragged her out of the room.

Shit, shit, shit, Rick thought, excusing himself from the room too, leaving Jim alone. Rick really needed to tell Kate and Castle what was happening, and fast.

XXX

Castle was enjoying being in his own room, well his future room. He'd done a search of the room when he first got back to the loft. He'd been curious to see the differences between what his room back in his time was like and what his room was like now, as a happily engaged man.

There were obvious signs everywhere that he shared this room with someone, a female someone. That was evident by the make up in his bathroom and the extra clothes in his closet. He'd asked Kate later, when they were alone in the room together, about her place. She'd said that he had some of his stuff there too, just like she had some of her belongings at his place but they spent more nights at the loft than at her apartment.

He'd also found more photographs. There was one from what looked like Ryan's wedding of him and Beckett together. Kate had informed him that they weren't a couple at that time even though they looked it. That one was a group photo, with the others from the precinct too. But there was one he couldn't stop staring at. It was one of him, Alexis, and Beckett. They really looked like a family. He was in the middle, with his arms wrapped around the two girls, but the thing that really struck him about the photo, was the way Kate was looking up at him. He had seen how the future Kate was acting and could tell she was obviously in love, but other than that, he'd mostly seen evidence of his love for her, not the other way around. So seeing this photo, with Kate looking up at him with so much love, his heart filled with happiness. One day, she would be looking at him like that and his heart pounded at the thought.

There was another photo, of just him and Alexis too. His little girl looked even more grown up than she does in his time. He hadn't noticed it in the previous picture because he'd been so distracted looking at Kate. He knew he wouldn't be able to see Alexis, not like this, but he desperately wanted too. He'd found the photo again while Beckett had been out seeing her father and he was busy looking at it again when Rick hurried back into the room.

XXX

"She knows," was the first thing that Rick said as he entered his room.

"What?" asked both Kate and Castle and then Castle continued, "Where's Beckett?" He looked behind Rick but couldn't see her.

"Ahhh... that's the second problem, she's talking to my mother," said Rick to which both Kate and Castle again replied together with "What?" but this time it was louder and there was an edge of panic to Kate's voice.

"Wait, what does Beckett know?" asked Castle, remembering the first thing that Rick said when he walked in.

"Oh my god, she know about us!" said Kate, trying not to panic, her hand instinctively going to her rings around her neck.

"Shhh or your father will hear," said Rick, worrying that they were being too loud. Jim thought he was alone in the room so he would be suspicious if he heard people talking.

"We both already know about your relationship," said Castle, quieter this time, looking back and forth between them both in confusion. It was then that he noticed Kate playing with her necklace. It had been hidden under her shirt all day so he hadn't been able to see it although he knew that Beckett wore the same necklace, one with a ring on it. But there was a difference between Kate and Beckett's necklaces, Kate's had a second ring on it.

"Oh, you didn't tell her about us getting married?" asked Castle, realising that her engagement ring was the other ring on her necklace, he'd been wondering where it was. He already knew that Beckett didn't know though, she would have been way more freaked out earlier if she'd known they were getting married.

"You told him?" asked Kate, turning to Rick.

"Well yeah, I figured that there was no point in hiding it from him, but you didn't tell Beckett, right? No offence, but younger you would freak out," answered Rick, giving Kate a knowing look and she didn't argue back, knowing he was right.

"Okay, so she's talking with your mother? What do we do? We have to get her out of there," said Kate, deciding to change the topic. She was concerned about her younger self, not knowing what Martha would be saying.

XXX

"Kate, are you okay?" asked Martha when they were alone, parroting Jim's words.

Beckett was almost hyperventilating. How could this day even be real? She still couldn't speak but there was no way that she could tell Martha the truth. She'd received way too much information in one day and to top it all off she was getting married, and that terrified her. That was only a small part of what was on her mind but that was the most important thing right now, she was getting married. She knew it wasn't the her of right now but it was still her. It was her life and she was going to be marrying the annoying (but still rather sexy) man child that followed her around. How did she go from wanting him to leave to wanting to be with him forever? These were questions she'd already been asking herself, except now it wasn't just that she was dating him, they were going to spend the rest of their lives together.

"What's the matter dear?" asked Martha, reaching over and taking Beckett's hand, she was starting to worry about her future daughter-in-law.

Beckett was silent for a few minutes and Martha was patient, giving her time to think. When Beckett answered, it wasn't what Martha had been expecting. She thought maybe they'd had a fight or there had been a tough case that day but it wasn't this.

"Does he really love me that much? Enough that he'd want to spend the rest of his life with me?" Beckett asked quietly, hesitant to voice what she'd been thinking. It was only one of the questions swirling around in her mind but it was a big one. How could anyone love her that much?

"Oh honey, you know he does," answered Martha, pulling Beckett into a tight hug. Tears threatened to spill from Beckett's eyes, this was the kind of thing she would've gone to her mother about.

"Is that what you're worried about? That he's going to change his mind? That you'll end up being another one of his ex wives?" continued Martha when Beckett hadn't said anything. It was something that she had been wondering about though. Castle already had two ex wives, what stopped her from being the third?

Beckett still hadn't answered so Martha released her from the hug but kept her hands on her shoulders and looked into Beckett's eyes. She saw something there that she hadn't seen in a while, fear. It was something that she saw a lot in Kate in the first few years they'd known each other but her son had helped get rid of that fear.

"You know he's changed, he's not the same man you met all those years ago," said Martha, trying to understand where this fear was coming from.

Beckett thought about it and she knew that Martha was right, Castle had changed. She could see how much Rick loved Kate. She'd seen it in all their interactions since she'd arrived in this time. She'd been trying to ignore it, or at least tried not to believe how much love she saw between them. It terrified her that one day, that would be her, that'd she'd be that open and vulnerable with someone. But she couldn't deny that she looked happy, and couldn't wait to get to that stage in her life.

"I know," said Beckett, smiling at Martha, thankful that she'd been here to help her.

"Talk to Rick about this, if you're that scared, let him know," replied Martha, giving her shoulder a squeeze before she smiled and let go, turning to return to the others in the living room.

"Thank you," said Beckett, smiling again, before following Martha out of the room.

XXX

They'd decided to send Rick back out to go find where Beckett and his mother were talking, hopefully no damage had been done. However, just as he entered the living room again so did they. And Beckett looked...calm? That can't be right. Maybe it was the calm before the storm? And was that a small smile on Beckett's face? He really had to get her out of the room and back to the others. Maybe Kate would know what to do with her.

"Bec...ahh...Kate, maybe you should finish getting ready," said Rick, indicating the towel still on Beckett's head.

"Right," said Beckett, she'd forgotten she was still wearing it and then she followed Rick back to his bedroom.

Rick breathed a sigh of relief, everything seemed to have worked out okay although he did wonder what his mother had said to Beckett.

XXX

Kate was relieved when Beckett and Rick entered the room. Just as Rick was shutting the door  
Kate's phone rang. Seeing that it was Esposito, she answered the call.

"Hey Beckett, sorry to interrupt your dinner but there's someone at the precinct looking for you," said Esposito.

"Who?" asked Kate, wondering if it was related to the case.

"Mr Peterson, his brother was killed a few years ago. It was from that weird case where you didn't remember anything. He's here at the precinct, says he has some information for you," replied Esposito, wondering if they'd finally get some answers about that case from so long ago.

Kate's eyes widened, "We'll be right there."

XXX

Kate had quickly changed into work appropriate clothes as did Rick. It was then they'd realised the problem, Martha and Jim were between them and leaving the loft so only one set of them could leave. It made sense that it would be Kate and Rick to go since it was their time and they knew more about this case than their younger versions. Castle and Beckett would have to wait until Jim and Martha left, which hopefully wouldn't be too long since dinner would be cancelled.

Kate and Rick had just left, saying they'd be as quick as they could and they'd call if they found anything. Beckett sighed, hoping she wouldn't have to wait too long with just Castle too keep her company. Earlier it was fine because they'd had the whole house to themselves so she'd been able to keep her distance and cooking dinner had distracted them. Now there was nowhere to go and the situation was made more awkward by the fact that they now both knew what the future held for them.

While she'd had some questions about Castle and their future together answered and she was reassured by her future decision to be with him, she still had lots of other questions about her own future, about her mother, and those were going round and round in her head. She wished that her Castle could help her now like the future one seemed to help her future self.

Just then Beckett's phone rang and she answered it, wondering why Kate was already calling.

"Beckett," she answered quietly, they couldn't make any noise in case their parents heard them.

"Hey. Sorry, dad is going to stay and have dinner with Martha and it sounded like they'd be a while so you're stuck until he leaves," said Kate and it was worse than Beckett feared. She wanted to cry, she could not be stuck here with Castle all night. She really just wanted some time to herself to think through the events of the day.

"You'll have to stay put until we return," finished Kate and then she wished Beckett good luck before she hung up the phone.

Beckett looked up at Castle with an almost scared expression. It looks like they were in for a very long night together.

* * *

I'm going away for 2 weeks so there's the possibility that I won't have time to write so don't worry if there's no update for a couple of weeks. In saying that, there is still a chance that I'll have time to write the next chapter, I'm just warning you now that I may not.

Review?


	10. Chapter 10

I just realised this is the second to last chapter for this fic and since I'm having so much fun writing this one, I'm thinking of writing another time travel fic. It wouldn't be in this universe and would have a completely different story line to this one but it would involve time travel but be less serious than this one. Would anyone be interested in that?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

* * *

Kate and Rick arrived at the precinct not long later, eager to know what Mr Peterson had to say, hopefully he'd know what was going on. Mr Peterson looked confused when he saw them but greeted them nonetheless. Kate then lead them all into the break room where they'd have at least some privacy, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation. After shutting the blinds and the door, she turned to him.

"Hi, how can we help you?" Kate asked, not wanting to give anything away but waiting to see what he had to say first.

"You two aren't the ones I met yesterday, right?" he asked, surprising both Kate and Rick.

"What do you mean? asked Kate, still wanting him to say what he wanted to first.

"You both look older, this is your time isn't it?" Mr Peterson asked, and when Kate realised he knew what was going on, she didn't bother hiding it any more.

"So, you know that there are two versions of us in this time then?" she questioned.

"I suspected as much. I got odd readings once I arrived here but only after further analysis did I realise what had happened. I'd never travelled with people in the vicinity before since I was using the warehouse. The time field must have expanded since my original tests, meaning that you two must have gotten caught in it and I brought you back to my time with me," he finished, getting confused looks from both the writer and the detective.

"What?" asked Rick and Kate, trying to follow what Mr Peterson was saying. Castle, being the first to recover, continued, "Is there any way to get our other selves back to their right time?"

"I'd have to make some modifications, since I'm not entirely sure how it happened yet but it should be possible, I'll just need some time," replied Mr Peterson and both Rick and Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

"How much time?" asked Kate, getting worried. It was already hard enough keeping the other two a secret and she didn't know how much longer they could.

"Only a day or so, maybe less, but I can't promise anything," answered Mr Peterson, "and you'd prefer I didn't rush something like this."

"No, you're right, take your time," and then Kate paused, thinking before asking the question that had been on her mind, "how come you travelled back in time in the first place?"

Castle was more curious about how he'd done it but that was a question for later.

"To make sure my brother's killer was brought to justice. I couldn't let his wife get away with it," he answered, which confused Kate and Rick, of course the wife had done it, that's where all the evidence had pointed and an arrest had been made. Although all that evidence came from the file that he'd given them so maybe there was more to this story then there seemed to be.

"You mean that file you gave us, that was from the future?" asked Rick, slowly putting the story together.

"It wasn't until a few years after his murder that new evidence came to light that the police realised who the real killer was. His partner had been in jail all that time and by that time his wife was long gone. At that time, the research company I work for had been in the developmental stages of a time travel device. When we finally got it working, I realised that I could go back and make sure she paid for what she did," said Mr Peterson, this was nothing like the story that Rick had come up with.

"You changed the future?" asked Kate.

"Yes, and now she's in jail thanks to you two and the evidence I gave you," he replied, looking relieved to be able to tell someone.

"Did it change anything else?" asked Rick, curious as to what time travel could've done to their future.

"Not really, nothing noticeable. You two are still together though I see," replied Mr Peterson, seeing the ring on the detective's finger.

"So you risked changing the entire future just to make sure she ended up behind bars?" asked Rick, but Kate could understand what he'd done and why.

"He was my brother and I wasn't going to let his murderer get away with it," replied My Peterson, and from the look in his eyes, you could tell he was at peace with what had happened, his brother's murder finally being solved.

Kate knew exactly how he felt and would've been tempted to do the same thing if she'd had the chance.

"And I'm sorry you two, well the past you two, got mixed up in all this, I never meant for that to happen. Do you remember this, I mean do you remember traveling to the future when you were younger?" asked Mr Peterson, wondering how it had affected them, not having their own time travel device when they'd traveled through time.

"No," answered Kate, "Is there a reason for that?"

"I'm not sure, maybe because I was the one wearing the device and you two were caught in the field," said Mr Peterson, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a thick arm band on his arm, opening a flap on part of it revealing a lot of dials, buttons and a small screen.

"That's the time machine?" exclaimed Rick, that was definitely not what he was expecting.

"Yes," answered Mr Peterson, "the original was a lot bigger but we condensed it into this device so we can travel from anywhere."

"How exactly does it work?" asked Rick, very curious about how they actually managed to achieve time travel.

"That's classified."

"Well what do you use it for?"

"That's also classified."

"Come on, can't you give me something?" asked Rick, he really wanted to know something, I mean, it was time travel.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything more about the device or its uses," replied Mr Peterson, he was breaking so many rules just telling them that time travel was possible but this was his mess and he had to clean it up before anyone discovered what he'd done.

"Do they just let you travel wherever you want," asked Rick, he wanted to get at least some answers.

There was a pause before Mr Peterson answered, "no."

"You stole it!" exclaimed Rick, knowing he was right when he saw the look on Mr Peterson's face.

"Keep your voice down," he replied, worried they'd be overheard.

"I could have you arrested for that," said Kate, switching back to cop-mode.

"If you were to do that, you'd never get home," replied Mr Peterson, and Kate knew he was right, although she probably wouldn't have been able to arrest him anyway. There was no evidence that he'd stolen anything since the project was so classified they wouldn't even be able to find proof it existed. The device on his hand would be called a prop and they'd probably just say he was a crazy man who thought he could travel in time.

"Are we going to be killed because we know about it?" asked Rick, now thinking the government was going to kill him because he knew too much.

"Not as long as you keep your mouths shut about it," answered Mr Peterson, not being able to hold back his laughter at the writer's face but he was worried himself about what his company would do if they found out what he'd done.

"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone, no one will believe us anyway," replied Kate, reassuring Mr Peterson that his secret was safe with them.

"You said that because we were caught in the time field could be the reason we don't remember?" asked Rick, thinking back to what Mr Peterson had said earlier, "But how come we remembered when we first arrived in this time?" Rick was thinking now, killer government forgotten, he realised things didn't add up.

"Okay, so that may have been a bit of a lie," answered Mr Peterson, at least looking guilty that he'd lied "I was considering making some modifications to the device so you two don't remember."

Kate was about to protest to that idea but Mr Peterson continued before she could.

"Would you really want your younger selves walking around with any knowledge they've gained while in the future?" he asked.

Kate thought about it and realised that it was probably for the best if they didn't know what the future had in store for them.

"No," answered Kate, thinking about how knowing she was going to marry Rick may change her actions and she didn't want anything to jeopardise her future with Rick, "but we have to get them home or we may not even have a future so you better get to work."

Mr Peterson left then, after saying goodbye, and promising to call with updates. Now Kate and Rick just had to wait for him to get the device ready so their younger selves could go home.

Esposito came into the room then, informing them that they'd got a new lead on their case. That's the reason he'd been at the precinct when Mr Peterson had arrived. He hadn't wanted to interrupt their dinner earlier with it but since they were already here, dinner plans cancelled, he thought they may be able to help. It looked like Kate and Rick weren't going to be home any time soon, she just hoped that Beckett and Castle were doing okay alone together.

XXX

It had been over an hour since Rick and Kate had left and neither Castle nor Beckett had spoken. Castle didn't want to say anything in case he spooked Beckett and Beckett was caught up in her own thoughts. She didn't know what to say anyway, what were you supposed to say to your future husband in a situation like this. The silence was broken when Beckett received a text from Kate and had to tell Castle what it said.

"It looks like they've found a way to get us home," said Beckett, finally relaxing a bit, this could all be over soon although the second part of the text put a bit of a damper on her momentary good mood, "and they're going to be late, they've got a lead on their case so they don't know what time they're going to be back."

Even if Kate and Rick had returned after talking to Mr Peterson, they still wouldn't have been able to leave until their parents left but at least it wouldn't just be the two of them.

"Do we need to talk about this?" asked Castle after another half hour of silence. Beckett had been wandering around the room, looking at all her stuff that was there. She'd also noticed the photo of him, Alexis and herself that Castle had noticed earlier and she couldn't stop looking at it either. That's what she was doing when Castle had interrupted her thoughts.

After a few minutes had passed, she replied, "Do you?"

"Only if you do Kate," he replied. The use of her first name startled her. She'd been hearing future him call future her Kate but to hear her name, said in that tone, coming from Castle was something different completely.

"I think so," she replied. She was going to try this, at least try to have a proper conversation with him.

"Nothing has to change between us, not until you're ready. It sounds like we don't even remember this anyway so once we go back to our time, you can go back to hating me," said Castle, although he wasn't really looking forward to that because they seemed to be making progress in their relationship.

"I don't hate you Castle, I never have," she paused. "I could never hate my favourite author," she said and the smile that accompanied that sentence was enough to get Castle smiling too. Even though she'd been joking about it, she wanted to tell him, she never did hate him. Yes, he annoyed her and she didn't like being followed around and watched like he did to her but it wasn't because she hated him. It was partly that he was annoying but it was also because she didn't think she deserved it, didn't see why someone would want to follow her around and write about her. She wasn't fascinating, she wasn't extraordinary, she was broken.

"Seriously though Castle, I never hated you. You may be childish sometimes and annoy me but since you won't remember this anyway, I might as well tell you that you make things more fun, you make things lighter." She would never have told him any of this but since they won't remember anyway she might as well and seeing the answering smile made her glad that she'd told him.

"I'm glad to hear it. If you really didn't want me to follow you, if you asked me to leave, I would. I wouldn't be very happy about it but I would stop," answered Castle, going for honesty too.

Beckett was starting to see a side of Castle that she hadn't seen before and she found she liked it, a lot. She was beginning to see how she could fall in love with this man.

While before Beckett had been walking around the room, she'd ended up sitting next to Castle on the bed during their conversation. Realising how close they'd gotten, she shifted sideways, wanting to put distance between them.

They sat in silence for a bit longer before Beckett voiced something she'd been wondering since Castle started following her.

"Why me?" she whispered, voice coming out weaker than she would've liked.

"Why you, what?" asked Castle, wondering what she was talking about.

"Why are you following me? Why are you writing a book about me?" She genuinely didn't know why he would want to follow her.

Castle thought about his words carefully before replying, "because you're a mystery. Because you're fascinating and extraordinary. And the more I find out about you, the more interested I get. And I may be basing a character on you but I wouldn't use anything personal or anything you didn't want me to." He'd decided to add the last bit, wanting to reassure her that she could trust him.

Beckett took a minute to digest what he'd just said and she could tell he was serious, that was really how he felt.

"Okay," she said, smiling and reaching over, squeezing his hand for just a second before getting up and moving to the other side of the room. She didn't like admitting this to herself but it was comforting having him here with her.

Beckett looked around the room a bit longer before noticing one of his books sitting beside the bed. Unfortunately though, it was a Derrick Storm book and not one he'd written about her. She was glad for a distraction and before long, she was engrossed in a Richard Castle story.

XXX

A few hours later and her eyes were starting to drop. She'd been sitting on the floor, her back against the bed while reading the book so she got up and stretched. Castle was now lying on the bed and he looked like he was deep in thought.

"How's it going?" she asked tentatively, wondering what he was thinking about. She suddenly felt nervous and didn't know why. She could feel things had changed between them and it was confusing her.

"Good," he said smiling, as her talking brought him out of his thoughts, he'd been thinking about her of course.

"Good," she replied, smiling in return.

"You feeling tired?" he asked as she tried to conceal a yawn.

"Yeah," Beckett admitted. She really wanted to crawl into bed and sleep after such a long day but that wasn't possible since they couldn't leave the room yet. They could still hear Martha and Jim in the living room and she was surprised that he'd stayed so long, she hadn't realised they were such good friends.

"Why don't you get some rest?" he asked, gesturing to the bed beside him.

"I.." Beckett hesitated, as appealing as the idea of sleep was she wasn't sure about sleeping next to Castle.

"I promise, I'll keep my hands to myself," he said, holding his hands up and moving further away, to the far side of the bed.

She thought about it for a minute and realised that she really did want sleep, even if it meant sleeping next to him.

"Okay," Beckett agreed and then she went into the wardrobe to find some of Kate's clothes to wear, wanting something a bit more comfortable to sleep in and she knew Kate wouldn't mind.

When she returned she was nervous again, wondering what Castle would think of her in such casual clothes, she wasn't used to being dressed like this in front of Castle yet as Kate obviously was.

But the look in Castle's eyes said he thought she looked just as beautiful dressed in track pants and a sweat shirt as she did all dressed up and she blushed under his gaze. When he realised he'd been caught staring he looked away quickly, not wanting to scare her off.

Beckett stepped up to the end of the bed, first looking at the side Castle was on then at the empty side. She found herself wondering what side Kate slept on as she stepped around the bed and climbed in. She thought about just lying on top of the blankets but it was a bit cold and the warm blankets looked appealing. She slid under the blankets of the left side of the bed and initially she felt awkward, lying there next to him. She felt him shift, getting under the blankets as well but by that point she was too tired to care and soon she was fast asleep.

XXX

While Beckett had been reading Castle had been thinking. He was seeing a different side of Beckett here and he liked it, a lot. But he didn't want to rush her. He now knew that they would end up together and he didn't want to do anything to ruin that, as long as they got home that is, or this future wouldn't exist. He was glad to hear that Kate and Rick seemed to have found a way to get them back home.

Beckett interrupted his thoughts and seeing how tired she was, he suggested she should get some rest. He was even going to suggest she have the whole bed, that he would get up but him saying he'd keep his hands to himself was apparently enough to get her to sleep next to him, for which he was glad for. He was incredibly happy that she was letting him see this side of her.

His brain almost stopped working when she walked out in sweat pants and top and he thought she'd never looked more beautiful, with her hair falling messily around her face. He couldn't help but stare and when he noticed that she was watching him too, he quickly looked away.

She paused at the foot of the bed and she thought she may have changed her mind but then get went over to the other side and climbed in. He watched as she pulled the blankets around herself and rolled on her side, facing away from him.

He watched her for a while before realising how tired he was himself. He considered just lying on top of the blankets, giving her some space, and going to sleep but the blankets did look comfy so he climbed under them as well. He did keep his distance, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. He lay on his side, facing her. All night he'd been imagining what life with her would be like. Making dinner with her had given him a glimpse of his life to come and now, lying next to her in bed, it was more that he could've hoped for this early in their relationship.

He knew nothing was going to happen between just yet but he could wait, he would wait as long as she needed. He thinks he's falling in love with her already and can definitely tell why his future self loves her and knows that it'll be worth the wait.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought :)


	11. Chapter 11

Last chapter! Thanks to all those who have stuck with me through this story or are just reading it now. Thanks for all the feedback and support I've gotten from you guys, I really appreciate it. Also, keep an eye out for my next time travel story if you're interested.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

* * *

By the time Rick and Kate arrived back at the loft, it was well into the early hours of the morning. They'd got a break on their case and ended up catching the killer. It was no surprise that Jim had left and Martha had long gone to bed. They were both exhausted and couldn't wait to go to bed as well. What they saw when they entered their bedroom surprised them both.

Castle and Beckett were both sleeping in their bed which wasn't so surprising because it was easy to believe how that had occurred considering the late hour and the fact that they probably hadn't been able to leave if Jim had been their late. The unbelievable part was the fact that they must have migrated across the bed in the few hours that they'd been asleep and somehow Castle's arm had ended up around Beckett's waist and Beckett's back was pressed up against Castle's chest.

"Awww, look how cute we look," whispered Rick, trying not to laugh at the stunned look on Kate's face.

Kate couldn't believe that her younger self had not only willingly got into bed with Castle but his arm was also slung loosely over her waist and she was nestled back against his chest. But considering what they'd both been through in the past day, it was more understandable that she found comfort in his arms when she wouldn't have a few days ago. They past couple of days had changed both Beckett and Castle, Kate could tell, but she knew once they got back to their own time, things would go back to normal and Beckett would go back to at least pretending she didn't like Castle again.

"Shhh, you don't want to wake them," Kate whispered back, after getting over her initial shock. They both quietly grabbed a change of clothes, deciding to sleep in the guest room and not wake the other two. Both Rick and Kate knew that it would be interesting how Beckett and Castle would react to waking up so close together. They just hoped that they'd move apart during the night, which didn't happen of course.

XXX

Beckett woke slowly, feeling warm, comfortable and well rested. Castle's arm had tightened its hold during the night so when Beckett tried to move she couldn't. She realised something was around her waist, holding her close and that was when she felt movement behind her. Like a flash, the memories of last night came back to her and she realised where she was, and whose arm must be around her waist.

She tried moving again but to no avail, Castle's arm was too heavy around her. For a minute she considered going back to sleep, feeling comfortable wrapped in him and when she realised she was thinking that, she panicked, now just wanting to get out of his arms and for things to go back to normal.

"Castle," she whispered.

"Mmmmm..." came Castle's reply and she got a fright when she felt the sound ripple through his chest and through hers, the sound made right beside her ear.

"Castle, wake up," she whispered again.

"Beckett?" asked Castle groggily, finally coming back to the world of the conscious. He pulled Beckett even closer, snuggling into her back, still not fully awake apparently.

"Castle," Beckett whispered for the third and final time.

"What?" he asked smiling, finally realising where he was and who he was cuddled up to, he could certainly get used to this.

"You have to let go of me." She was acting annoyed but she couldn't help but find sleepy Castle cute. Damn her traitorous thoughts.

"Oh right, sorry," replied Castle, letting her go, realising that they weren't at that stage in their relationship yet. "Apparently I couldn't keep my hands to myself after all."

He was happy when she actually laughed then, glad he hadn't ruined the progress they'd made yesterday. He was glad to see that his joking had also removed any awkwardness from the situation as she went to get dressed.

He got up too to go and make breakfast again and was pleased to see her smiling when she exited the room shortly after to help him.

XXX

Rick checked before he went downstairs that Martha was gone. Luckily she was so they didn't have to worry about all four of them being together. He could hear movement downstairs but from the voices he could tell it was Castle and Beckett as Kate was still asleep in the guest room.

He was greeted by the same scene as yesterday morning, Castle had made breakfast for them all and Beckett was sitting there drinking coffee and as Castle gave her some food.

"Morning," said Rick, as he accepted breakfast.

"How was last night?" asked Castle, talking about both their current case and if there was any news on how they'd get home yet.

"Good, we caught the killer from our case and Mr Peterson says he should be able to get you two home in one piece, he'll let us know when the device is ready, he just needs time to make a few modifications," answered Rick, deciding not to bring up what he'd seen last night, not even to tease them. He figured if they woke up that way, they had sorted it out because things didn't seem awkward between them and if not, they didn't need to know.

"Great news guys," said Kate, as she came down the stairs, "looks like you two are going home."

"Oh, thank god," said Beckett, just wanting to be back in her time and for things to be back to the way they used to be.

"We're meeting him at the same warehouse in an hour so we better get going soon," replied Kate. She was relieved too, all this strangeness would be over soon.

XXX

An hour later, they were meeting Mr Peterson at the warehouse.

"Everything ready?" asked Rick, after they'd done greetings and introduced their past selves.

"It should be all ready to go. I made some modifications meaning that I can control where you end up without having to go myself. And if I got the calculations correct, you'll end up in the exact place you left, give or take a day," Mr Peterson answered. He had been working all night and everything seemed to be working properly.

"We won't remember, will we?" asked Beckett, slightly disappointed but also relieved she wouldn't remember the past day.

"Those two didn't," he said, pointing to Rick and Kate, "so hopefully you two won't either if the modifications I made work. You should end up where you left and with no memories."

Beckett checked her pocket, just to make sure she had the note telling herself not to tell Castle to leave. She'd written it this morning when he'd gone to make breakfast. She wasn't taking any chances, she wanted to make sure she didn't let him go.

They said their goodbyes then, Castle and Rick shaking hands and Beckett and Kate hugging.

"Good luck," whispered Kate into Beckett's ear to which Beckett replied, "You too."

"You guys ready?" asked Mr Peterson, once everyone had finished saying goodbye.

"Yes," said Castle at the same time as Beckett said "wait" and then she turned and kissed Castle. It only lasted a few seconds and was a simple press of the lips but it was so much better than both Beckett and Castle had imagined, not that Beckett had ever imagined kissing Castle of course. Castle was too stunned to do anything but stare at her.

"I just wanted to know what that felt like, just once, before things go back to how they were," said Beckett to Castle before she turned and addressed everyone, "okay, we're ready now."

Kate and Rick looked on shocked, Kate being shocked that her younger self had actually kissed him and Rick thinking about how that would have been their first official kiss even if neither of them remembered it.

Castle couldn't believe that had just happened, had Beckett really just kissed him? He couldn't stop smiling as Mr Peterson prepared to press the button that would send them home. Beckett couldn't help but smile as well as she replayed what had just happened in her head and that was her last thought as Mr Peterson hit the button and everything went black.

XXX

"Thank god we found you, what happened? You've been missing for two days," said Esposito, worry evident in his voice since Castle and Beckett had seemingly vanished off the face of the earth.

"Two days? How is that even possible?" replied Beckett as Ryan and Esposito walked them out of the warehouse to where their cars were parked outside.

No one could figure out what had happened. When they'd searched this warehouse earlier they'd found their phones and the file that said that the victim's wife was the murderer but there was no Beckett or Castle. It was luck that they checked this warehouse out again. They'd run out of other options so came back here looking for more clues and had luckily found them instead.

"Alexis and my mother must be worried sick," said Castle once they were outside, frantically searching for his cell phone.

Esposito let him borrow his, since Castle's was back at the precinct and once Castle had called his family, assuring them that he was fine, he and Beckett headed back to the precinct to see if they could figure out what was going on.

XXX

Several hours later, all paperwork done, they decided to call it a day. Esposito and Ryan had arrested the wife after confirming the facts in the file so that case was now closed. No one had any idea what had happened and it didn't look like they were going to figure it out, not now anyway, so they all left to get some rest and hopefully they'd get some answers tomorrow.

XXX

Beckett didn't know what to think about the past 48 hours, she had no idea what had happened and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember the events of the previous two days. The only clue she had was a note she'd found and she didn't know what to make of it. All it said was **Don't let Castle go. You need him. **She had been thinking about talking to the captain or even possibly the mayor to see if Castle could stop following her and she wondered if the note had something to do with that. It was written in her own handwriting so maybe something had happened over the past two days that had changed her mind about Castle leaving and perhaps she should trust herself and give Castle another chance.

She hoped one day she'd find out what the note meant and what had actually happened but until then, she'd keep living life like normal. Although, maybe she'd give Castle more of a chance now. She didn't know under what circumstances she would have written something like that but if she knew she was going to forget, maybe this was a way to make sure Castle stayed in her life. She went to sleep that night thinking about Castle and wondering what the future and working with him would bring.

* * *

And that's the end! I think this has been the most fun and challenging fic I've written so far so thanks to you all for taking the time to read it.

Review?


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